Any attempt to enter or leave the Mine Star will face stern warnings, eviction, or even the threat of detention.

The entire Mine Star is like an isolated island in the universe.

At the same time, within the Peak Alliance, especially forces like the Thousand Stars Commerce Alliance and the Thunder Dragon Empire, are constantly ramping up public opinion, portraying the "New Bauhinia" as a dangerous, uncontrollable, and possibly alien-colluding wicked force, creating excuses for future military actions.

Both sides are poised for conflict, and war may break out at any moment.

In this state of external pressure and internal vigilant alert, the passage of time for Mine Star is both an ordeal and an opportunity for precious respite and development.

Bai E poured all his energy into defense deployment and troop training, while the truly decisive changes occurred in the field of scientific research.

Helen, the top scientist in whom Bai E had placed high hopes, lived up to those expectations.

She, along with Dai Lian's "Fire Hammer" engineering corps, Zhou Wenjie's reverse engineering team, and many gathered scientific elites on Mine Star, entered an almost frenzied work state.

Their core task was to digest and apply two key resources: one was the pieces of knowledge from the "Divine Fragment" that Bai E had deciphered, which were beyond the age; the second was... the technological heritage from Intelligent Machinery.

As early as when Bai E first contacted and "negotiated" to integrate the force of Intelligent Machinery on the planet where Mine Star is located, he acquired a large amount of Intelligent Machinery's smelting factories, low-intelligence mechanical units, and even some technology.

Helen had then sharply realized the unique value of Intelligent Mechanical technology and conducted in-depth research.

Now, under the conditions of external blockade and resource constraints but relatively ample time, Helen's team shifted their research focus to how to integrate and innovate the essence of Intelligent Mechanical Technology—especially its efficient and precise automated manufacturing, unique energy transmission, and material technology—with the knowledge from the "Divine Fragment" and the existing spiritual energy-mecha technology system of the New Bauhinia.

This was a daunting project.

There are significant differences between the technological tree of Intelligent Machinery and that of humans, making the integration process full of challenges.

But under Helen's genius coordination and the team's tireless efforts, breakthroughs kept occurring.

A new alloy formula was born based on the smelting technology of Intelligent Machinery, significantly enhancing strength and spiritual energy conductivity;

The automated production lines were transformed and optimized, doubling production efficiency;

More crucially, based on partial reverse engineering of the underlying principles of Intelligent Machinery's "logic chips" and the inspiration from the "Divine Fragment," Helen's team developed a brand new "Spiritual Energy-Logic Synergy Control System."

This system didn't simply combine human consciousness with machinery, but created an intermediate layer where a mech pilot's spiritual energy and will could command large warfare machines more efficiently and precisely through an optimized "logical framework," greatly improving the reaction speed and combat effectiveness of large and complex weapon platforms.

When Bai E first saw the thoroughly transformed, more streamlined lines, new alloy's unique dark gold luster armored, internally surging with new energy paths "Star Emperor" mecha upgrade version, and those prototypes of "New Thorn Flower" class frigates in the dock that were hastily being constructed, he truly felt the technological power that erupted after months of silence.

Mine Star's defense system was quietly transforming from a "special power" relying on elite mech pilots and a limited number of specialized ships into a "regional power" with a complete industrial base, a prominent unique technological tree, and a strong potential for warfare.

And just as Mine Star was accumulating strength in silence, with the external standoff remaining tense, new news arrived from the distant Star Alliance front line.

Astra, the "Child of Destiny" of the Golden Federation, had been redeployed to another Bug Race active stellar district after the end of hostilities in the Aisera Star System.

With his powerful "Fate Perception" spiritual energy, the elite fleet of the Golden Federation, and drawing on some combat experience from the Jade Stone Star, he successfully commanded an ambush against a Bug Race sub-fleet, destroying several Bug Race biological giant ships at a small cost, achieving a rare and clean victory for the Star Alliance since the outbreak of the Bug Race war.

The message uplifted the morale within the Star Alliance.

Astra and his "Brilliant Star" squad were widely publicized, becoming the new generation of "heroes" and "hope" for the Star Alliance to counter the Bug Race.

This seemed to prove that even without Bai E's "uncontrollable" ancient power, the Star Alliance can still counter the Bug Race threat relying on its cultivated elites and regular forces.

This good news greatly fueled the arrogance of the factions within the "Seven Sons of the Empire" advocating for a tough stance on Bai E.

They became more convinced that Bai E's "uniqueness" is not irreplaceable, and the "uncertainty" and "potential risk" he brings far outweigh his value.

The time to suppress or even eliminate the "New Bauhinia," this "unstable element," and clear potential obstacles on the future path of the Star Alliance was becoming more mature.

Soon, further military mobilization began.

A "Border Patrol Task Force" of the Star Alliance, composed of parts of the Steel Alliance and the Holy Silver Church Country's ships, was ordered to proceed to the Peak Alliance stellar district.

The official reason is "to assist the alliance in stabilizing the border and preventing Bug Race infiltration and potential unstable factors."

But everyone understood that the destination of this fleet was precisely the Mine Star region heavily surrounded by the Peak Alliance fleet.

The integration of the Star Alliance fleet with the Peak Alliance fleet signifies that the military pressure on the New Bauhinia escalated sharply from "regional blockade" to a "Star Alliance-approved joint military deterrence."

The atmosphere in the Mine Star command center was heavy.

Catherine pointed icily at the mark on the star map representing the approaching Star Alliance fleet towards the Peak Alliance blockade line: "They've come. It seems Astra's 'victory' gave them the confidence to act. Now, it's the Star Alliance and the Peak Alliance joining forces."

Gong Yan supplemented the intelligence analysis: "According to secret channel information, this Star Alliance task force carries heavy orbital bombardment weapons and a 'Spiritual Power Suppression Field Generator' specifically targeting high spiritual energy targets. They aren't here just for show."

Helen's gaze turned toward the newly launched ships and mecha in the dock: "Our new equipment has just completed preliminary installation, and troop adaptation training still needs time. But they won't give us that time."

Bai E silently stared at the star map.

He could feel that the invisible noose was tightening.

The United Fleet of the Star Alliance and the Peak Alliance had already completed assembly and deployment around the Mine Star.

A massive fleet, far exceeding the previous isolation forces of the Peak Alliance alone, surrounded the Mine Star like a pack of wolves around prey.

The shadow of the giant warships cast on the geosynchronous orbit brings a suffocating sense of oppression.

Inside the United Fleet command, generals from the Star Alliance and commanders from the Peak Alliance were conducting the last pre-battle assessments and searching for a "reasonable" excuse to act.

They knew that launching an attack solely with reasons like "potential threat," "spiritual energy anomaly," or "refusal for inspection" was not without resistance within the Star Alliance, especially since some non-Seven Sons forces might hold objections.

They needed a more impactful, more "intuitive" crime.

At this moment, the advanced detection array of the joint fleet caught sight of the newly built, stylistically unique industrial facilities on the surface of Mine Star, as well as several prototype frigates with obvious non-human civilization design styles undergoing trial runs in space.

Even more deadly, while integrating Intelligent Mechanical Technology, Helen's team inevitably used and modified a large number of automated units and assembly lines originating from Intelligent Machinery, whose energy signatures and operational modes significantly differed from the mainstream human technical system.

"Detected a large number of energy characteristics of non-human civilization technological creations! Matching degree with Intelligent Mechanical Technology spectrum exceeds 87%!" The scout's report invigorated everyone in the command room.

"Intelligent Machinery?!" The Star Alliance General's face darkened, a flash of "as expected" severity crossing his eyes, "Back when the Intelligent Machinery rebellion nearly overturned human civilization! This Bai E is not only enigmatic in his power, but he also dares to secretly research and integrate the forbidden technology of Intelligent Machinery! This is a violation of the bottom line of all human civilization!"